Grease-cup-cap balanced locking construction



Feb. 3, 1925. 1,524,696

J. DOUGHERTY GREASE C UP CAP BALANCED LOCKING CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 11 1924 INVENTOR. Jo/r/v Boas/men? BYMw ATTORNEYS securing movement.

Patented Feb. 3, 1925.

rennet JOHN nonennnmv, 1.01 INDIANAPOLIS, iNDIANA;

'GREASECUP-CAP BALANCED Lo'oKrNe colv'srnnc'rron.

Application med Januaryf 11,1924. Seriai No. 885,593.

grease-cup caps-when subjected'to extreme 'Vl'bIELiJIOIl and 'eycloidal'movement to prevent the loss thereof. These devices while hetterithan 'none 'have uniformly "failedto give complete satisfaction. One of the main reasons torsuch failure isthat a balanced locking arrangement is not provided, and,

therefore, inthe 'cycl'oidalmovement,the cap cooperates with the locking construction, the latter forming an eccentric pivot andthn's the cap u'ltimately becomes unlocked and is lost. Y

Thechi'ef Object of the invention, therefore, is to provide abalanced locking construction for a 'grease'cup cap that under the most severe cycloidal "and vibrator g A I jec'ted i outwardly from the well 16; Herein movement, willstaylodked.

Anotherobject of "the invention 15 'to' construct the locking construction, so thatthe cap: may be manually removed when desired,

yet olier considerably less resistance'to'the cap is yielding'ly locked against anyth'read ing movement, but is increasingly locked against cap removal movement. i

The featuresof 'the invention, in addition tothe means for accomplishing the foregoing objects, will be more specifically pointed out herein.

The full nature of the invention'will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the following description andclaims a In the drawings, Fig. '1 is atop -plan-'view of a portion of a connecting rod'or driver. ofa locomotive provided Withagrease cupconstruction and showing the 'cap therefor. Fig; 2is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the li11e'2''2 of Fig. 1 and in the direction of the-arrows.

In other words, the

Fig. 3-"is a bottom plan: View of thecap and is "taken. on "the broken 3 "In the drawings 10 indicates a connecting rod construction having a bearing; surface ll'and' a lubricating 'channeI 'l'Q'communicat- 111g. therewith. The? channel 12 "communicate's with a well or; grease cu'p 'reservoir F1 3 having a threadedmouthd. The body, 15 oitfthe'g'rease cup is herein shown provided withapah jof diametrically positioned openln'gs "16 whichare arallel' to each lother'and the a'xis',fof"thewe i-i3, -a. 1d-,ftherefore, may be stated .to be axially positioned, with re spect ztheret although teem alignment.

Herein each" of 4 the wells 16 is illustrated as fortne'dby drilling, and, therefore, since drills "usually are provided with a conical point, the same includesa conicalbottom '1'7. S'lidably 'snpported in'thewell 1 6 is a lun er, locking pawl or proj ction '18 hav ng-an enlarged flange 19 anda'rednced stem'QO, 'all concentric with *each other. The body 18 isprovidedwvith a conicalppoin't 21'. A coiled springQQis receivable by -the well Tor recess 16 an be'arsagainstthe flange19 and isfr etajined in axial alignrnent and concentric with the entire aforesaid construction by the springretainer stem-20. The -otherend of the coiled spring "22 is positioned axially by reason ofthe'conical' bottoinwall 170i said well. Thus, the plunger or pawl having the conical point 21. is *normall' gpromean's is provided ttorretainingsaid plii'nger against complete. outward projection, .and, therefore, removal. Hereineucha. construction is shown as a bushing or collar "23' rigidlyfsecured "in the-well adapted to; overlie the flja'n'ge 19'*b'y"'the deformed por tion 2 i. Otheran'eans"may be provided, if desired, which also come, within' 'the 'dis;

elosure of a retaining member for said'iphm ger or locking pawl and rigidlysecnred' in said well or "by a portion adjacent thereto provided, however, said securing means does not normally "extend beyond the faceo"f the greasecu'pconstruction indicated by the line 3- 3; Since the f fdregoiiig' description-adequate'ly describes the "other loeki ng onstruc non, 11o f-tirtherdescription thereof need be given.

eierence will now be "Fhad to the cap W-lri'ch'i's ilitistra te'd in detail in Figs.

main body portion -25 having a "tool-eng ge able porti'o nl26 whichlis recessed at 27fte lighten 1 :2 and 1 3. Herein the cap .is shown imi g; a

e same. Theta-(1y; portion i f a' pell' iphei al flange 28nd apt-e 'd to everhe the face of the grease cup construction and also the wells 16 containing the plungers previously described. The cap is also provided with a threaded extension 29 recessed at 30 to lighten the same. Said extension 29 is oppositely positioned from the tool-engageable portion 26. The foregoing nut construction is old in the art, and it is to be understood that the threaded exterior of the extension 29 is adapted to engage the threaded interior-14 of the well 13 andthus close said well and retain the lubricant therein.

In actual practice the lubricant is supplied to the well and the lubricant used is usually Very stifi. After the locomotive has traveled some fifty miles, the engineer proceeds to again tighten the cap upon the seat, for the lubricant by this time has become warm and does not offer as much resistance to the final seating of the cap. Should the engineman fail to again tighten the cap at the desired time, the cap, due to the cycloidal movement and vibration, will gradually become unthreaded from the grease cup and be lost along the right-ofway. If the engineer should tighten the cap, as aforesaid, then subsequent traveling will also tend to loosen the cap; and if an inspection subsequent thereto is not made, the cap may become unthreaded and likewise be lost along the right-ofway.

With the foregoing invention, therefore, the cap is retained in a threaded position and will not become unthreaded and lost, even though the engineer fails to tighten the same after the lubricant has become heated following fifty miles of travel, or there-- abouts.

The cap, which is the detachable element, and that which is lost and replaced is herein shown provided with a plurality of diametrically positioned pairs of conical openings 31, which by reason of the jig for simultaneously drilling the same, are not positioned so that their axes are parallel to the cap axis, but are slightly inclined thereto, although each of the conical recess axes is parallelto the others. Herein three pairs of diametrically positioned openings are illustrated, and it is believed six will be sufficient, although the number may be increased or decreased as desired.

While the preferred arrangement is to provide the recesses in the cap and the looking plunger constructions in the grease cup, the same may be reversed without departing from the invent-ion in any degree whatso ever. P

While the invention has been described in great detail in the foregoing specification,

the same is to be considered illustrative and not restrictive in character, such as for example as has been previously pointed, and

those skilled in the art, some of which have been enumerated hereinbefore, are all considered to be within the broad purview of the invention reference being had to the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:

1. The combination of a grease cup member, a cap member therefor, said members having a threaded connection therebetween, a well in one of said members normally covered by the other of said members, the other member having a recess therein adapted to register said well, a bushing partially closing said well and rigidly secured therein, and a locking member seated in the well and retained therein by said bushing and extending therefrom for seating in said re cess.

' 2. The combination of a grease cup member, a cap membertherefor, said members having a threaded connection therebetween, a yieldingly mounted locking plunger carried by one member, and a complementary plunger receiving seat in the opposite member for receiving said plunger, one of said complementary locking elements being axially positioned and the other slightly angular thereto for yieldingly permitting threading movement in one direction but yieldingly opposing threading movement in the opposite direction to a greater degree than the first-mentioned threading movement.

3. A device of the character described in claim 2 characterized by the provision of a plurality of plungers and a plurality of seats, said plungers and said seats being arranged in balanced relation and about the cup and cap axes. V

4. The combination of a grease cup member, a cap member therefor, said members having a threaded connection therebetween, a plurality of yieldingly mounted locking plungers carried by one member, and a plurality of complementary plungers receiving seats in the other member for receiving said plungers, said plungers and said seats being arranged in pairs and diametrically positioned in balanced relation about the cup and cap axis, one of said complementary locking elements being axially positioned and the other slightly angular thereto for yieldingly permitting threading movement in one direction but yieldingly opposing threading movement in the opposite direction to a greater degree than the first-mentioned threading movement.

5. The combination of a grease cup men ber, a cap member therefor, said members having a threaded connection therebetweeu a plurality of yieldingly mounted locking plungers carried by one member, and a plurality of complementary plunger receiving seats in the other member for receiving said plungers, said plungersiand said;

seats being arranged in pairs and diametrically positioned and in balanced relation about the cup and cap axis, and additional plunger receiving seats similarly arranged, one of said complementary locking elements being axially positioned and the other slightly angular thereto for yieldingly permitting threading movement in one direction but in the opposite direction to a greater degree than the first--mentioned threading movement.

6. A device of the character described in claim 2 characterized by the provision of a plurality of plungers and a plurality of seats, said plungers and seats being arranged in balanced relation and about the cup and cap axis, and further by the diametrical positioning of said plungers in pairs and by corresponding positioning of said seats, and further by the provision of recesses additional in number to the locking plungers.

7. The combination of a grease cup mem ber, a cap member therefor, said members having a threaded connection therebet-Ween, a yieldingly mounted locking, plunger having a conical point carried by one member, and a complementary conical plunger receiving seat in the opposite member for receiving said plunger,'one of said complementary locking elements being axially positioned and the other slightly angular thereto for yieldingly permitting threading movement in one direction but yieldingly opposing threading movement in the oppo site direction to a greater degree than the first-mentioned threading movement.

In Witness whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature.

JOHN DOUGHERTY. 

